Focused ion beam (FIB)

1. Overview.
2. Ion source and optics.
3. Ion-solid interaction, damage.
4. Scanning ion beam imaging.
5. FIB lithography using resist.
6. FIB milling, sputtering yield.
7. Redeposition.
8. Single line milling.
9. Other types of FIB lithographies (implantation, intermixing).
10. Gas-assisted FIB patterning.
1
ECE 730: Fabrication in the nanoscale: principles, technology and applications
Instructor: Bo Cui, ECE, University of Waterloo; http://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~bcui/
Textbook: Nanofabrication: principles, capabilities and limits, by Zheng Cui
Focused ion beam (FIB) lithography overview
FIB lithography resembles e-beam lithography (EBL), but with more capabilities:
Write pattern in a resist, like EBL.
Etch atoms away locally by sputtering, with sub-10nm resolution (subtractive),
most popular application of FIB.
Deposit a material locally, with sub-10nm resolution (additive).
Ion implantation to create an etching mask for subsequent pattern transfer.
Material modification (ion-induced mixing, defect pattern).
Nonetheless, EBL is still the most popular nanofabrication method.
2
Proximity effect of FIB lithography is negligible, no electron backscattering.
This means writing pixel size beam spot size, short dwell time on each pixel that
beam blanker may not follow. (For EBL, pixel size >> beam spot size, exposure
between pixels by proximity effect)
For the same beam spot size, higher resolution than EBL, due to shorter ion
range, weaker forward scattering, lower energy of secondary electrons with
smaller lateral diffusion.
Higher resist sensitivity than EBL that increases throughput.
Comparison: EBL and FIB lithography (with resist)
Like EBL, ion-matter interaction can also generate low-energy secondary
electrons, which can expose the resist for lithography.
Naturally, in principle all EBL resists can also be used as FIB lithography resist.
3
Ion-beam electron-beam
However, it is more difficult to focus ion beam (chromatic aberration).
So one must use low beam current for the same spot size/resolution, which offset
its high sensitivity and reduces writing speed.
Impurity of source ions within resist is an issue.
The biggest disadvantage of FIB lithography: limited exposure depth in resist
(<100nm for 100keV); thin resist makes following liftoff or etching process difficult.
Comparison: EBL and FIB lithography (with resist)
Beam current
(pA)
1 10 30 50 100 300 500 1000 3000 5000 7000 2000
0

Spot size
(nm)
7 12 16 19 23 33 39 50 81 110 141 427
Spot size of a FEI FIB system. (Spot size for EBL can be <10nm at current several nA)
4
Comparison to EBL: resist sensitivity
Very high ion beam energy (260kV), so this comparison of sensitivity may not be typical.
Here the resist sensitivity is about 2 orders higher than that of EBL.
For chemically amplified resist, PEB causes chain reaction that amplifies the
exposure, so higher sensitivity.
SAL-601:
High sensitivity (10C/cm
2
)
chemically amplified negative
resist, with good resolution
(sub-100nm), high contrast,
and moderate dry etch
selectivity. But not so stable
with short shelf lifetime.
http://snf.stanford.edu/Process
/Lithography/ebeamres.html
PEB: post exposure bake
5
Focused ion beam (FIB)
1. Overview.
2. Ion source and optics.
3. Ion-solid interaction, damage.
4. Scanning ion beam imaging.
5. FIB lithography using resist.
6. FIB milling, sputtering yield.
7. Redeposition.
8. Single line milling.
9. Other types of FIB lithographies (implantation, intermixing).
10. Gas-assisted FIB patterning.
6
FIB milling
Sputter process.
Resolution better for small current but high currents mill faster - use series of decreasing
currents.
Significant redeposition - milling strategy is important.
High depth of focus (ion shorter wavelength than electron) non-flat surface OK.
Coupling with SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) can give in-situ information on
chemical content.
7
Sputtering rate depends on ion energy, mass, crystal orientation, substrate nature.
One Ga ion of energy 30keV sputters a few atoms from Si surface.
With a 1nA ion beam current, sputtering 1m
3
/sec.
Sputtered feature is broader than beam size: 10nm beam causes 20 to 30 nm
sputtered recess.
Optimal ion energy 10-100keV.
Higher energy leads to more implantation.
For energy >1MeV, backscattering and nuclear reaction become dominant.
Sputtering by ion beam
8
Sputtering yield Y
Sputtering yield is correlated with melting point.
Y = number of recoiling atoms out of the target surface per incident ion = 1-50
9
Sputtering yield of different material
Sputtering yield varies with material, orders of magnitude difference across periodic table.
Sputter rate (m
3
/sec) = yield(atoms/ion) flux(# of ions/sec)/number density(atoms/m
3
).
Actual rate much lower due to re-deposition of sputtered material.
10
Recent developments in micromilling using focused ion beam technology, Tseng, 2004
Energy dependence of sputtering yield
Sputter yield saturates at 100keV, higher energy leads to significant implantation
As/Si
Ga/Si
Ar/Au
As/Au
Ga/Au
Ar: Z=18
Ga: Z=31
As: Z=33
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TRIM is a simulation software
Angular dependence of sputtering yield
Maximum sputter yield at 75-80
o
.
However, FIB milling is usually done at normal incidence
for vertical trench profile.
Actually no longer normal once milling started
inclined incidence for tapered sidewall.
30keV
90keV
Si
Au
Au sputtering rate is less angle-dependent than Si, partly because Au surface is rough,
so actually not normal incidence locally even when seemingly normal globally.
12
Surface will be FIB milled at different rates due to
topographic effects on milling.
The topographic effects will grow and exacerbate as FIB
milling continues.
Even for normal ion incidence, surfaces are rarely FIB
milled from top-down; but rather, are created by FIB
milling at high incident angles (as if milling from sidewall
and propagate along beam scan direction).
Effect of incidence angle
Ion
13
Beam scan
direction

Ga ion into Zn, Cu, Al, and Si at normal incidence.
Trench depth varies with material.
Zn has highest sputtering rate.
Cu shows topography formation due to grain
structure/texture...
Si has smoothest crater bottom.
Rate of material removal: constant dose different materials
Constant dose of 7.510
12
Ga
+
, delivered with 1nA beam current.
Brenda Prenitzer, University of Central Florida, PhD dissertation (1999).
14
Increasing dose does not implant more ions
to the surface; but rather, only recedes the
same steady state surface with time.
Implant profile if without sputtering
Implant profile with steady state sputtering
Steady state ion implantation
15
Charging effect when milling insulator
Charging can be eliminated by electron beam bombardment of surface.
(most FIB is equipped with SEM for imaging and charge neutralization)
16
Box milling of poly crystalline material (steel), rough surface.
Channeling effect when milling crystalline material
Box milling of poly crystalline Cu.
Channeling effect
suppressed by doping with
impurity atoms that block
the ion channels.
17
Thin
membrane
18
Focused ion beam (FIB)
1. Overview.
2. Ion source and optics.
3. Ion-solid interaction, damage.
4. Scanning ion beam imaging.
5. FIB lithography using resist.
6. FIB milling, sputtering yield.
7. Redeposition.
8. Single line milling.
9. Other types of FIB lithographies (implantation, intermixing).
10. Gas-assisted FIB patterning.
19
Redeposition depends on:
Kinetic energy of atoms leaving surface
Sticking coefficient of target
Sputtering yield of target
Geometry of feature being milled

Factors that increase sputtering rate tend to
increase redeposition:
Beam current
Incident ion kinetic energy
Incident ion attack angle
Target material properties
Re-deposition
Scanning beam
redeposition
Si milled by 30keV Ga
+
, slow single pass
at 2sec per line with 300 scan lines.
2m
Scan direction
20
The figure on the left is wrong. There will be
no re-deposition on the top surface. Re-
deposition only happens when the two points
can see each other. There is no force to bring
the sputtered atoms back (gravity too small,
no electrostatic force for neutral atoms).
B. Prenitzer, Univ. Cent. Florida dissertation (1999)
Constant dose variable area, milling of (100) Si at
normal incidence with 1.5x10
11
Ga
+
/m
3
.
Slope of sidewall increases (less steep) as trench width
decreased, as sputtered atoms have less chance to get
out of the trench.
Geometry effect of re-deposition
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For higher beam current, re-deposition increase, sidewall definition worse.
For Cu, rough surface at all beam currents.
Effect of beam current on re-deposition
Cu
(110)
Si
(100)
500pA 1000pA 2000pA
1
0

m

22
Effect of scan sequence
Recent developments in micromilling using focused ion beam technology, Tseng, 2004
Milled from center to edge Milled from edge to center
BK7 glass
The earlier the region is milled, the more re-deposited material is accumulated there.
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How to deal with re-deposition
Slow single pass at 2sec per line
with 300 scan lines.
Si milled by 30keV Ga
+
, total dose 1.910
18
ions/cm
2
.
Fast 200 repetitive passes at 10ms
per line with 300 scan lines.
Characteristics of Si removal by fine focused gallium ion beam, Yamaguchi, JVST, 1985.
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Scan direction
Serial: mill each pixel all the way through
before milling the next, re-deposited
material covers holes milled previously.
Parallel: mill all pixels to a small depth, then
return to mill deeper until targeted depth
achieved, re-deposited material milled away
by following mills.
How to deal with re-deposition, another example
Summary for minimizing re-deposition effect:
Mill large and less critical pattern first, using high beam current.
Use multiple passes, not single pass.
Mill fine and critical pattern last, using low beam current and multiple passes.
25
Something is wrong here. It can not be due to re-deposition.
Focused ion beam (FIB)
1. Overview.
2. Ion source and optics.
3. Ion-solid interaction, damage.
4. Scanning ion beam imaging.
5. FIB lithography using resist.
6. FIB milling, sputtering yield.
7. Redeposition.
8. Single line milling.
9. Other types of FIB lithographies (implantation, intermixing).
10. Gas-assisted FIB patterning.
26
Pixel size vs. beam size
As a rule, for continuous non-wavy milling,
pixel spacing/beam diameter 1.5
Ion flux distribution along a scan line with
pixel/diameter=1.5 (top), 3.0(bottom)
Recent developments in micromilling using focused ion beam technology, Tseng, 2004
27
Channel milling using single pass
redeposition
Due to re-deposition, channel depth cannot be calculated simply by sputter yield.
V-shaped channel profile is the inherent shape obtained by single-pass FIB milling.
At long dwell time, the mouth width of the channel (B) can be one order larger than
beam size, because the tail of the beam can mill sizable amount material.
Channel profile by AFM
Milled into Au by 90keV As
2+
FIB with 5ms dwell time. I=5pA, pixel spacing 14.5nm,
beam diameter 50nm. Single pass, aspect ratio 1/3 and is insensitive to dwell time.
28
Here the re-deposition on top
surface is due to diffusion and
collision of sputtered atoms and
ions. In addition, the amount of re-
deposition on top surface is
actually very small, far far less than
shown here
Channel milling using single pass
Relationship between feature size (depth by milling
or height by deposition) and ion doses for various
ion species and materials.
Dwell time ion dose D
Almost universally log(M)=a+blog(D)
M is milling depth or any feature size in
milling experiment.
Then milling yield: Y=dM/dD=b(M/D)
29
How to mill high aspect ratio narrow trench
FIB milled trenches in Ta-C film using beam current (from
left to right) of 32, 3, 3, 32, 7, 7, 32 and 32 pA,
respectively.
Trenches with width 3040 nm, aspect ratio
up to 25, beam current 1.8-3pA
For high aspect ratio, use small beam current and large number of repetitive passes.
Focused ion beam patterning of diamond-like carbon films , Stanishevsky, 1999.
30
Focused ion beam (FIB)
1. Overview.
2. Ion source and optics.
3. Ion-solid interaction, damage.
4. Scanning ion beam imaging.
5. FIB lithography using resist.
6. FIB milling, sputtering yield.
7. Redeposition.
8. Single line milling.
9. Other types of FIB lithographies (implantation, intermixing).
10. Gas-assisted FIB patterning.
31
Patterning etching mask by ion implantation
High concentration p
+
doping in Si
drastically reduces the etch rate by KOH.
The implantation depth is roughly 1nm/keV
(e.g. 30nm for 30keV Ga
+
ion).
The critical dose for the etch mask to be
effective is 110
15
ions/cm
2

(=160C/cm
2
=10 ions/nm
2
).
The implanted region is completely
amorphous (amorphization dose is 110
14

ions/cm
2
).
At higher doses such as 110
16
ions/cm
2
,
sputtering (milling) of sample surface
becomes significant.
Reyntjens and Puers, A review of focused ion beam applications in microsystem technology, J. Micromech. Microeng. 11, 287-300 (2001).
Fabrication of cantilevers by shallow doping
(left-hand side) and milling and sidewall
doping (right-hand side): (a) FIB exposure
(milling and/or implantation), (b) during KOH
etching and (c) after etching is completed.
32
FIB implantation and pattern transfer: results
SEM photomicrographs of cantilevers
(2m long, 100nm wide and 30nm thick).
Nano-cup by extending vertical FIB
milling to several m.
Tseng, Recent developments in nanofabrication using focused ion beams, Small, 1(10), 924-939 (2005).
33
Rounded (wider interior, narrower near surface )
groove array fabricated by Si-FIB implantation on
AlGaAs substrates.
Si
+
ion implantation at 200keV energy, high energy
leads to large grooves.
Hot (70
o
C) HCl etches highly doped (1000 Si
+
ions/nm) region much faster.
FIB implantation and pattern transfer: results
Implantation can also irradiate polymer resist
materials to increase its etching resistance.
Here 30keV Ga
+
FIB with 117C/cm
2
doses to make
implanted patterns in Shipley SPR660 positive
photoresist layers.
Ga
2
O
3
is formed that can be used as RIE etch mask
to etch un-irradiated resist using O
2
plasma.
FIB images of double 100nm (left) and 30nm
(right) lines patterned by FIB implantation in
SPR660 photoresist after O
2
RIE.
34
Ion beam lithography on AlF
3
resist
AlF
3
inorganic resist using 30kV Ga ion,
large features, pitch 1m.
High-resolution direct machining: FIB etched lines on
AlF
3
(50nm)/GaAs, ion dose 92nC/cm. The lines in GaAs
display a very reproducible width of 8nm.
Explanation of this high resolution: flux-dependent
vaporization of AlF
3
, which is acting as a filter versus the
tail of the ion-probe current distribution.
AlF
3
: inorganic e-beam lithography resist.
Form F
2
gas upon exposure, leaving behind Al.
Nano-fabrication with focused ion beams, Microelectronic Engineering 5758, 865875 (2001)
35
Large feature
Fine feature
Ion beam induced intermixing
Faraday microscopy image of magnetic patterns of a FIB dot
array (Ga ions, 28 keV). (either bright or dark region is
irradiated)
Initial film: Pt(3.4nm)/Co(1.4nm, ferromagnetic)/Pt(4.5nm).
Mechanism: ion-induced atom displacement at the Co/Pt
interfaces (ion beam mixing effect), to form PtCo alloy that
is less or non-magnetic.
Faraday ellipticity loops obtained at room temperature after uniform Ga irradiation.
Irradiation reduces coercivity; at even higher dose 210
15
, the film becomes paramagnetic.
paramagnetic
36
Ion beam patterning of HOPG
AFM images (980 nm 980 nm) of the
morphologies of defects created by FIB
irradiation on a HOPG substrate
(35keV Ga
+
ions, probe size 6nm, ion
dose 3750 ions/point)
The height is very reproducible
(around 1.8nm).
HOPG: a kind of graphite, highly oriented pyrolitic graphite.
Use irradiated HOPG substrate to
guide the deposition of metal clusters.
For lower ion doses (as here), only ion-induced defects and subsequent local volume variations
corresponding to surface modification are evidenced.
For higher doses, holes are etched into the sample, leading to a volcano-crater like morphology.
AFM (2m 2m) image of morphologies
of HOPG surfaces.
a) After deposition of gold clusters.
b) After deposition of Co
50
Pt
50
followed by
a thermal annealing.
37
Focused ion beam (FIB)
1. Overview.
2. Ion source and optics.
3. Ion-solid interaction, damage.
4. Scanning ion beam imaging.
5. FIB lithography using resist.
6. FIB milling, sputtering yield.
7. Redeposition.
8. Single line milling.
9. Other types of FIB lithographies (implantation, intermixing).
10. Gas-assisted FIB patterning.
38
Ion
Etching
Poor selective
Etching
Ion
deposition
Enhanced
etching
Selective
etching
Material
deposition
FIB alone
capabilities
FIB with gas
Gas-assisted FIB lithography
39
Impinging Ga
+
knocks out atoms and ions from sample
Redeposition is prevented by chemical reaction with the adsorbed
gas - formation of volatile species.
Etching gases that react only with certain species - selective milling
Examples of etching gases
XeF
2
enhances Si and SiO
2
milling.
Cl
2
, Br
2
, I
2
enhances metal milling.
H
2
O enhances carbon (polymers, ...) milling.
Gas-enhanced FIB milling (etching)
Sputtering yield enhancement factors
40
Adsorption of the gas molecules on the substrate
Ion bombardment ionizes the adsorbed gas atoms, making them reactive.
Interaction of the gas molecules with the substrate
o Formation of volatile species: GaCl
3
, SiCl
4
, SiF
4
o No chemical reaction
o Formation of non-volatile species: AlF
3
, oxide layer
Evaporation of volatile species and sputtering of non volatile species
Gas-enhanced FIB milling (etching)
41
Gas-assisted selective/enhanced FIB milling
Selective etching using XeF
2

Al
SiO
2
Orsay Physics
With XeF
2

Without XeF
2

Enhanced etching using XeF
2

42